Food Grade Aloe Vera Gel ... can this be used on plants

[BladeCutter]

I've seen products like this on local shelves. I don't really want to maintain an Aloe Vera plant. Anything specifically for the cannabis plant is very expensive. This seems like a pretty good option. 32 ounces for under $5 at Walmart is a good deal. Any reason I can't use this? There are only two non-Aloe ingredients Citric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate.

Any thoughts or opinions? Has anyone tried this before?

 

[AJrexxx]

What are your plans for it? What medium do you grow in?


I buy dehydrated aloe vera from Build a soil and you add a 1/4 teaspoon for a gallon of water. So an ounce lasts me forever. I only really use it to clone.

 

[BladeCutter]

What are your plans for it? What medium do you grow in?


I buy dehydrated aloe vera from Build A Soil and you add a 1/4 teaspoon for a gallon of water. So an ounce lasts me forever. I only really use it to clone.

I am growing in an Build A Soil organic medium EarthBox. I've used their dehydrated Aloe since early 2020. But, while you don't need much, the cost is high. I still have some of my first ounce left, but it has passed its shelf life. I thought at that $5 this "jug of aloe" might be a kind option to have around and I might use more of it.

My Build A Soil Black Friday order arrives tomorrow. I love their products. I am about to start my first all BAS run. But I would love to find a less expensive Aloe option.

-BC

 

[Jburner8011]

I just ordered some craft blend going to try my hand at mixing my own soil next time . I usually use an already made living soil in a bag like a stonington blend or sohum. But it’s getting expensive .

 

[BladeCutter]

I just ordered some craft blend going to try my hand at mixing my own soil next time . I usually use an already made living soil in a bag like a stonington blend or sohum. But it’s getting expensive .

Craft Blend is a great top dressing for any "living soil." The expense is spread over a number of reuses. I am about to start my fourth crop in an EarthBox that has only been amended with Build A Soil amendments.

I would need to know more to provide really useful advice, but since you have Craft Blend on the way, I suggest you top-dress with that and some earthworm castings and reuse your soil.

What is your environment?

 

[AJrexxx]

The only thing in that aloe is the salt that would concern me.

I have been using the nutrient blend for almost two years now. It is the best I have ran across especially with how long the 44lb bag lasts.

Not sure I would worry about the expiration date. Its kind of like a best used by date in my opinion(i have the same bag for a long time and it still clones). I used to run test plants in two gallon pots for experiments to figure these things out. Again I only use it for cloning so I do not do much with aloe. If you try it out let me know would like to know how it works out.

 

[Jburner8011]

I grow inside in a tent. Keep the environment pretty much on point most of the time. Like high 70s and 40-50% humidity. Last couple times I did like lasagna layers. Put a straight sohum soil in the bottom third of the pot , and a light mix on top so the seedlings (hopefully!)don’t burn. In the middle a mix of both. Seeds have been going straight into the pots they’re going to be grown in. Used to mess with the peat pucks but lost a lot of babies to too much moisture. And I don’t feed much nutrients at all. I Had bad luck with over feeding with bottles , knocking the PH all out of wack when I started so now I just top dress some dry nutrients when they flower and just feed them water if I can get away with it.I want to start reusing my soil. Usually it goes out into the flower bed or vegetable garden after but I want to reuse it if I can . I’ve burned a few autos in my short career so im a little paranoid about making it too hot I also want to start making my own soil instead of buying the bags . Seems like I could save some dough there if I can make my own base soil out of peat moss and compost and then add in some other goodies

 

[Jburner8011]

I do see some deficiencies so I could be doing better but I’m usually pretty happy with what we end up with

 

[AJrexxx]

I grow inside in a tent. Keep the environment pretty much on point most of the time. Like high 70s and 40-50% humidity. Last couple times I did like lasagna layers. Put a straight sohum soil in the bottom third of the pot , and a light mix on top so the seedlings (hopefully!)don’t burn. In the middle a mix of both. Seeds have been going straight into the pots they’re going to be grown in. Used to mess with the peat pucks but lost a lot of babies to too much moisture. And I don’t feed much nutrients at all. I Had bad luck with over feeding with bottles , knocking the PH all out of wack when I started so now I just top dress some dry nutrients when they flower and just feed them water if I can get away with it.I want to start reusing my soil. Usually it goes out into the flower bed or vegetable garden after but I want to reuse it if I can . I’ve burned a few autos in my short career so im a little paranoid about making it too hot I also want to start making my own soil instead of buying the bags . Seems like I could save some dough there if I can make my own base soil out of peat moss and compost and then add in some other goodies

I use a build a soil recipe its on there blog somewhere. 1/3 Peat 1/3 compost (local) 1/3 Rice hulls and 4 cups of nutrient blend (i do not use all the individual items because nutrient blend has them all). That's it. I will use LAB and Recharge occasionally and if they show deficiency in flower i use buildabloom. Pretty simple set up but it works.

Thats in ten gallon grow bags.

 

[BladeCutter]

Do you follow Build A Soil on YouTube? It is probably the best source of information on growing on YouTube. I've found that finding someone who has a grow style that I like and following them is best. For me that's Jeremy and Build A Soil.

I really like the EarthBox because once you are up and running you don't have to be worried about over or under-watering. My last run produced over a half-pound from two plants under 130W. My personal best. I've just moved to a tent and hope to at least duplicate those results.